Freda's announces its reopening at The Abercrombie Hotel

Café Fredas just over a month ago announced the closure of its ever popular Taylor Square location. The venue, which opened on New Year's Eve in 2020, stood as a merging of hospitality and music within Eora/Sydney's community.

"Oh. And in case you were wondering. Freda's won't be gone for long, see you soon..." Freda's owner David Abrams teased on the announcement post, shared to the venue's Instagram and Facebook.

Soon turned out not to be very long at all, with the venue announcing this morning that it will now live on as Bar Freda's, via a takeover of a space at The Abercrombie in Chippendale. Partnering with owners David and Carla Uriarte, Solotel Group, the owners of The Abercrombie, will also work with the duo to assist in programming the venue's club space.

Freda's first opened in 2011 at a space not too far from The Abercrombie's location, and the excitement of returning to their home suburb is clear across their announcement. “It’s remarkable that we’re coming back just a few hundred meters from where the original Freda’s was," Abrams said in a press release shared earlier today. "That venue had a big impact on the nightlife scene at the time, and with Club Freda’s nights in the works, I’m beyond excited to be back in a position to provide opportunities for young DJs, promoters and creatives in Sydney and help give them a platform to perform and express themselves. At the heart of it, that's what Freda’s has always been about”.

Freda's has for years represented, whether in its original Chippendale club space or its Taylor Square bar, a home for with community, culture and safety for music lovers, artists and promoters alike. Through the success of their endeavours, it's clear that their understanding of Eora and its people, music, food and drinks, have been instrumental in transforming spaces into havens of culture and quality.

Solotel Group, responsible for a portfolio of 29 businesses in the hospitality industry across Eora and Meanjin/Brisbane, stands to gain much from Freda's involvement. Though the brand has the likes of Kings Cross Hotel, Tokyo Sing Song and Opera Bar under its belt, three venues known for previously working with some of Eora's more community-minded promoters, The Abercrombie currently sits as the group's stand out club space.

Competing directly with The Ivy and Chinese Laundry, two of the city's more frequented club spaces and both owned by Merivale, the move to work with Freda's is an understandable one to secure a dwindling share of Eora's dance punter population.

Elliot Solomon, CEO of Solotel Group, said, “Freda’s has always been synonymous with community and great energy, and this collaboration is an exciting opportunity for us to continue that legacy in a new way. We know Dave and Carla will put their unique stamp on The Abercrombie and make it something really special, and we look forward to working with them and seeing what they do”.

Bar Freda's space and programming is set to launch this April.

-

Jack Colquhoun is Mixmag ANZ's Managing Editor, find him on Instagram.